Jettisoning political payload for tunnel-vision point of view, Ridley Scott's unflinching recreation of 1993's US-grunts-versus-Somali-masses catastrophe achieves a near-unbearable level of visceral realism rarely trapped on celluloid. In a medium where `War Is Hell' is a bumper-sticker tagline, Black Hawk Down's suffocating depiction of combat terror makes it one of the few films to remind us what the words really mean. "It's about the man next to you. That's all it is..."
DVD Extras:
Three discs locked'n'loaded with all the technical and true-life info you could ask for. A trio of superb commentaries (Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer; author Mark Bowen and scripter Ken Nolan; four US Special Forces veterans) set us rolling, before six Making Of featurettes go behind the scenes on everything from story concepts to training to lensing. A further bundle of material is devoted to the visual design of the film, while eight cut scenes and a six-angle breakdown of the helicopter squad-drops all come with optional chat.After the techie stuff, two docs provide shocking footage and lump-in-the-throat, first-hand accounts from soldiers, civilians and aid workers involved in the events. Scott and co then reappear in three Q&A forums, before a haul of promo filler zips up the package.
